Medium

Although it feels like years, it was probably just a few months ago. I was standing amidst my people in the glorious sweat palace of the rock show. Don't remember who was playing, but I'll bet at least one of the guys on stage was wearing a cowboy hat, and liked to scream "Motherfucker" a lot. Associate Noise editor and brave young turk Michael Baldino elbows through the throng and hands me a Medium cd. "You'll love these guys", he tells me. "They rock." Of course, this is the same guy that asked me, at a Scissorfight show no less, "Why would you want to listen to a whole Cracktorch album? It's just riffs." I have a tendency to only listen to porn stars and aging burnouts like myself when it comes to the Rock anyway. A few weeks later, and I'm hanging out at the offices of Boston's Weekly Dig, blowing smoke with the head honcho over there, J Bennett. "What about this Medium band? " I asked him, "They're from the suburbs, but everybody's talking about them. Any good?" Now, J's too young to be a burnout, but he is a porn star (Horny Debutantes Volume 236- credited as "Mister Fist"), so I was interested in what he had to say. "Dude, they don't sound like they're from the suburbs", he told me. "They're good, possibly great." So I went home and listened to the album. Suddenly, I was nailed to the floor by rays of deep black sunshine, swimming in a sea of crystal sheen riff rock bliss, struck dumb by the effortless, awe inspiring beauty of it all. On 'Terra Firma', their self-released demo, they sound like Led Zeppelin with ice water running through their veins, or like Blind Melon's tragedy man Shannon Hoon rising like a Phoenix from his druggy end to reclaim his soulful kingdom with Queens of the Stoneage for soldiers. Mostly, though, they are the sound of conviction. Medium's chief conspirators, drummer Derek Kirswell and guitarist Pete Cortese, both left successful bands- Shadows Fall and Overcast, respectively- to concentrate on this band, dedicating themselves like a stalker to his prey to bringing Medium's music to the people. They carry with them no pretense of rock stardom, no badges of hipster credibility or flashy egos. Aside from lead singer Dean Ross's resemblance to a demon-free version of Slayer's Tom Araya, they don't even dress the arena rock part, looking more like Milligram than, say, Roadsaw. Medium's music is honesty personified, and it will take you right out of this murky place, straight into some wild new stratosphere of soaring super soul and churning desert rock. How foolish of me, how terribly human and petty to avoid this band just because they haven't had the dubious honor of having their over-priced rat hole of an apartment in downtown Rock City robbed by crack addicts like the rest of Boston's motley rock and roll crue. Well, I have learned my lesson, brothers and sisters. Doesn't matter where the rock comes from, as long as it gets you free. 

Living in a shack in a one horse town

"My whole life, I was part of a band that was trying to be a Boston band, and that's not what we are, so this time around, I said, 'Hey, we're going to be who we are and where we're from', and that's why the whole 'suburban' thing is there, and that's why people are talking about it. I mean, look at all that's happened- that's a result of us not trying to be just another Boston band." It's a sunny afternoon in Harvard Square, and I'm sitting -in a suburban style restaurant, no less- with all 4 members of Medium. Derek Kirswell, the band's mouthpiece, manager, co-founder and skin pounder, is explaining Medium's unique place in Boston Rock. "Really, the most well known place that any of us live is Leominster", he says. It wasn't always about long commutes to rehearsal, though. The nucleus of Medium began in the nation's capital, in another time and in another band. "It's our fault", Pete Cortese, mild mannered axe slinger says, looking at Derek. "Yeah, me and Pete were in Long Distance Runner together", Derek explains. "This was in Washington DC. Pete and I started talking about how we wanted to write stuff on the side. At the time, things were really going downhill for Long Distance Runner, so we amicably split, and he and I immediately started working on this stuff that we had talked about. We wrote some songs, 4 tracked the tunes- and we were like, 'We're never going to find a band'. We'll never find the singer that we're looking for, it's never going to happen- but there he was, right under our noses." Dean Ross smiles from behind his head of curls and sips his beer. He and Kevin are the quiet ones in the band, content to sit back and let Derek and Pete field the questions, which they happily do. "See, him and I were in a business band, and..." After asking Derek what the hell a 'business band' is 2 or 3 times, Pete finally fills me in. "It's a cover band." Oh, I get it. Monkey business. "It's a suburban phenomenon", Derek says. "That's all I can say." I let Derek get back to Medium's beginnings. "So Dean and I played in this business band together. What happened was, I said, 'This is what we do'- we've got 4 track cassette tape, and I knew that he could take the tape and put it on disc for me." Talking to Derek is like a lesson in pro-active thinking and razor sharp networking acumen. He's got every angle covered. Thank God he's such a benevolent soul, because if he used his powers of persuasion for evil instead of rock, we'd be living in the United States of Kirswell. "So 'I'm like, 'Ok, we're going to give him the tape to put on disc, but we're not going to approach him. Let's see if he bites.' So I gave him the tape, and two hours later I get a phone call. 'Hey man, I kind of dig this stuff', and I was like, 'Oh, really? ' That's how it all happened." He takes a much needed deep breath. "And with Kevin, it was just like, I was this party one night, and I saw him screwing around with a bass", Pete adds, "and I said, 'why don't you come down and jam with us sometime? That's all it took." And as far as the guys in the band are concerned, it's all they'll ever need. "It's kind of like when you find that ultimate relationship you know?" Derek rhetorically asks. " I mean, I'm married, you're married, Pete's married, so you know how it is, it's almost effortless. All these people say, 'Oh, relationships are hard work, and I'm like, well, I don't really have to work that hard. It just works. And I think that just recently, we've all gotten to the point where we've realized that we've got the formula- we don't have to fight it, we just roll with it." Pete nods in agreement. "It's a well oiled machine", he says. 

Rhymes with Rockin'

One of the most striking elements in Medium's sound is Dean's vocals. They soar above the holy riff rock mountain like a watchful eagle- serious in intent, but absolutely free. Unlike the typical stone deaf forever loopy warble or sub-sonic troll growling of most 'stoner rock' bands, Dean doesn't just scream, he sings, in the classic arena rock sense- part Zeppelin wail, part Soundgarden crunch, part..."Don Dokken", Derek laughs. "That's the latest one, from a KNAC interview. Lately we've been getting that from people, an 80's metal vibe." Dean shrugs. "I don't know why people are going for that, maybe it's my hair, or something." Derek has a different theory. "It's because he actually sings. At first, people were saying, 'I don't know about that dude's voice', and I was just like, 'You know what? You're just not ready for it yet, that's all.' Who else can even sing like that? Chris Cornell and Shannon Hoon, that's it. Most bands would kill to have a guy like Dean singing for them." Pete agrees. "Yeah, that's the thing, I think there's some really great bands playing 'riff rock', who have great songs, but I just get tired of hearing all the screaming, or like, the talking. I just want to hear some melody." Besides giving voice to the sprawling music of Medium, he's also the sole bearer of rock fashion. He claims classic influences for both the vocals and the look. "Back in the 70's, there were just so many cool bands", Dean says. "Yeah, and they didn't have to worry about any kind of image either", Pete adds. "There was no MTV, so the way a band looked didn't really matter. Luckily, we're all good looking guys", he laughs. Pete's claim to good genetics notwithstanding, Dean's still the only long hair in the band, and I ask him if he's trying to convince the other guys to join the freak parade. "I'm working on it", he sighs. I look around at a bunch of guys in blue t-shirts, chinos and glasses, looking like refugees from an Emo camp. He's got his work cut out for him.


Trying to Get to Heaven Before the Sun Goes Down

Talk gets around to musical influences. "I love old Testament, Metallica, Anthrax, Violence- but there's a deep root of 70's rock in our music", Derek explains. "Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, ELO (yikes!), all those bands, even some of the prog-ier bands, Bowie, Yes (Yikes again!). It's all about Nazareth, Thin Lizzy- they just channel through us. And that's what we grew up listening to, and I think it's imbedded in us. I think collectively, Led Zeppelin is the biggest influence. And the Cult, we all love the Cult." Everybody at the table nods and buzzes happily, like we were passing around nude Shakira 8x10's, when Derek mentions the Cult. "I had some 50 year old guy tell me that we sound like Sabbath, and some 25 year old kid say we sound like Soundgarden, so it's all over the place", Derek says, when explaining who the band is most often compared to. "Life of Agony is another one. One person said we sound like Catherine Wheel, Zep, the Cult." Pete smiles. "Honest rock and roll", he says. 'That's what it's all about." I ask them if they'll be fleshing their honest rock into a full length album anytime soon. "It'll probably be awhile, because we can't afford it right now", Derek shrugs. "We're still paying for the last one." Surely, it must have paid for itself by now. Medium must be selling them like buckets of water at a forest fire, given their well deserved buzz. "We tried", Pete says, "but it kind of feels better to just give them away to people." No wonder Derek's the businessman in the group. "We don't hang around at the door of the club going 'Buy our CD!' or anything", Derek explains. "I just want people to have it, really, and to hear our songs. But when the full length comes out- that, they're going to have to pay for." Laughter all around. " We just want to help change the musical climate, until it's where it should be", Derek says. 'Right now the state of rock and roll is really terrible, and I don't want to say that we're rock and roll missionaries, or anything..." Aww, go ahead and say it, brother. "Ok, we are rock and roll missionaries", Derek states, to laughter and applause. "I tell you what, man. I'm blown away that people dig the stuff as much as they do. The bottom line for us is, we love rock, and we love playing in this band." 

Let them show you just how much they love the rock at www.mediumband.com